This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, click the "Reprints" link at the bottom of any article.

July 13, 2012

Top 25 ‘Heroic’ U.S. Companies That Invest in U.S.

One Washington-based think tank calls them ‘investment heroes’

For those about to invest in the U.S., we salute you.

The Progressive Policy Institute released its list of what it calls “investment heroes,” or those companies that are “betting on America” by making significant domestic capital expenditures.

In a policy brief released Wednesday of the same name, authors Diana Carew and Michael Mandel write that, “Unfortunately, U.S. business investment tanked during the Great Recession, and has yet to recover … In 2011, non-residential investment remained more than 7% below 2007 levels, adjusting for prices. By comparison, personal consumption in real terms was higher in 2011 compared to 2007. We find ourselves in an investment drought, not a consumption drought."

Which is why PPI, a left-leaning think tank based in Washington that originally started as an “idea mill” for President Bill Clinton’s New Democrats, wants to highlight those companies that are still investing domestically in buildings, equipment and software.

PPI says it calls these companies “investment heroes” to make a key point: “The U.S. economy is at its best—in terms of growth and job creation—when companies and workers are partners with the same objectives. Half of the leading companies are telecom and energy, but the list also includes tech, retail, automotive, and entertainment companies.”